consumerism and education

I think I have touched on consumption as a way of life for Americans here and there in my previous journals, but want to spend a bit more time addressing the issue. In Three Billion New Capitalists, consumption is addressed through the lens of economic policy that encouraged spending after world war 2. Saving was known to be good for the individual, but spending was good for America, so should be done. With a focus on spending and consumption, more jobs could be created, and with more jobs being created, more money could be spent, and ideally, an endless cycle of economic growth would ensue. After WWII, economic growth was astounding and consumption became a way of life. September 11, is one of the defining moments in the lives of Generation X and Y and the millennials. A defining moment that I remember and that is noted in Three Billion… is the comment of George H.W. Bush, when he encouraged people to keep spending money to keep America strong. It was a shocking statement to me. I scoffed, but it seems that most of America kept on spending.
Every day, I see teenagers using electronic equipment that their parents have somehow afforded to buy them, and I wonder how they can afford the items. These kids aren’t the best students in the school. Some of them are the worst. The thing that holds true though, is that they almost all have cell phones with unlimited texting, they all have an mp3 player, and times I have asked about how many video game systems or tvs are in their homes, they have more than 1 video games system, and many more than 1 tv, and usually an HD TV or flat panel tv.
I continue to wonder why any student who has every privilege at home but fails in school has any reason to work hard. If there is no incentive to work, why work?
With the increase in consumption often comes the commoditization of items that are being consumed. So a question we can ask is, how is education being commoditized for students? Are students simply treating the information that they are being taught as if it is a ringtone? Many times it seems students want to use the skill that they are taught for the moment, and forget it the next. Behaviors taught by economics of Americans may be applying to education.